AL: The story of how the Freedom Riders revolutionized American travel, transit 60 years ago – MassTransitMag.com

The restored vintage Greyhound bus that is to be unveiled at the Freedom Rides 60th Anniversary Event on Tuesday May 4 in Montgomery, Ala., is seen on Wednesday May 3, 2021.

Mickey Welsh / Advertiser (TNS)

Its hard to imagine today that only 60 years ago, boarding a Greyhound bus and taking a seat next to a passenger of another race was revolutionary; an act that could leave you flat out on the pavement or at risk of fatal harm.

But Montgomerys Freedom Rides Museum is in the business of remembering.

For a decade, the museum has told the stories of more than 400 young men and women, Black and white the youngest of them 13 and the oldest 22 who boarded interstate buses headed south in the summer of 1961 with a strict purpose: to compel authorities to enforce Supreme Court decisions banning segregation on buses and in transportation facilities throughout the U.S.

Bernard Lafayette Jr. suffered three cracked ribs in Montgomery at the hands of an enraged white mob for his effort. Then days later boarded a bus to Jackson, Mississippi, where he and other Freedom Riders were arrested. At 21, Lafayette said the experience taught him how to live with pain for the purpose of virtue.

If you went on the Freedom Rides you had to make out your will, said Lafayette. So grave were the risks.

That integrated travel on buses, trains and planes is now viewed as unremarkable points to the Freedom Riders triumph. But the Museum wants to ensure their efforts arent taken for granted.

On the 60th anniversary of the Riders sojourn from Washington D.C., the Freedom Rides Museum and Alabama Historical Commission unveiled a new mobile exhibit: a restored Greyhound bus of the same model that carried Riders south.

Dorothy Walker, director of the Montgomery museum, said their intention is to hit the road, taking the Freedom Riders stories to schools and cultural sites in Alabama and throughout the country when it isnt on display at the old Greyhound station where the Museum is now housed.

Were talking about 18 to 20-year-old students who decided they were going to challenge the system of segregation. To arrive in Montgomery on a bus just like this one and to get there and theres nobody there to protect them. They dont know that theres a mob waiting. Its taking people back to that moment. We hope that when people experience the bus, they experience that range of emotions these students must have gone through, said Walker.

The bus was gifted to the AHC in 2019 by the Greyhound Bus Museum and restored by ABC Companies in Faribault, Minnesota. Walker said it was essentially a shell without seating. It now features the original color scheme, historic seats, compartments and windows with some updated features such as air conditioning and power steering. The costs were covered by donors, while the city covered storage at its lot. Walker said the bus will feature a soundscape experience in the hopes of transporting visitors back to 1961, as well as informational banners and an interactive suitcase exhibit.

From this series: Could the Freedom Riders make a difference against todays racism?

The exact number of surviving Freedom Riders is hard to know. Two of the most prominent Freedom Riders, Congressman John Lewis and Reverend C.T. Vivian passed away last year on July 17. Even the youngest activist would be 73 years old today. Their mobility is a concern the Museum has also factored into the new mobile extension. Walker said she hopes to take the bus to the Riders themselves so that they can engage their communities with this history.

Valda Montgomery was 13 years old when her father Richard Harris sheltered Freedom Riders at their South Jackson Street home after their bus pulled into Montgomery on May 20, 1961. At the Museums 60th anniversary event, she remarked at the irony that she now leads an organization, Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum, that works to preserve their history-making activism.

The making of a movement: She was 13 when a bloodied John Lewis arrived at her home, looking for refuge

It just amazes me what in the world my mother and father were thinking when they said, you can come here. Now I understand what John Lewis meant when he said, they were so courageous to open their doors. Each day I get a greater appreciation as I delve deeper into the history of that event. It gives credence and validity to my memories. Im more inspired to keep the story going, said Montgomery.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: The story of how the Freedom Riders revolutionized American travel, transit 60 years ago

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AL: The story of how the Freedom Riders revolutionized American travel, transit 60 years ago - MassTransitMag.com